IT was the legendary day when a self-confident songstress named Madonna made her British debut, at Manchester's equally legendary Hacienda nightclub - and one she now coolly claims not to remember.

IT was the legendary day when a self-confident songstress named Madonna made her British debut, at Manchester's equally legendary Hacienda nightclub - and one she now coolly claims not to remember.

Flanked by two Lycra-clad male dancers, the disco diva from Detroit gyrated her way through the vibrant strains of Holiday, a future summer anthem which would herald her first chart success on both sides of the Atlantic.

And, unlike this weekend's live shows in Manchester - where tickets sold for up to é150 - admission to the Hacienda showcase on January 27, 1984, was granted free to people holding special invitations.

Madonna made her British bow at the club as part of a one-off, live Channel 4 broadcast by The Tube, a cult music programme presented by Jools Holland and Paula Yates.

It was Tube creator Malcolm Gerrie, now a high-powered television executive, who asked Madonna's record company to organise her appearance at a venue which was still to win its reputation as one of the world's best.

Priority

Gerrie tells friends that The Tube eventually funded the visit itself, because Warner Brothers did not see Madonna as "a priority artist".

Hillegonda "Gonnie" Rietveld, who was there that day and went on to research the 1992 book, The Hacienda Must Be Built, says: "Madonna did a TV PA, miming with two male dancers in a club act formation.

"They performed on the dance floor, rather than on the stage, surrounded by lights, cameras and a curious crowd.

"The Hacienda was crammed, because the Tube was a respected TV programme for young music fans that dared to risk bringing new talent to a national audience.

"Daylight was coming in from the glass panels in the industrial ceiling, and I remember the light blue walls framing the audience.

"Madonna was wearing one of those belly-revealing tank tops."

Hilarious

Another person who was there on the night clearly failed to share Gerrie's affections for Madonna. "It was, as I recall, hilarious," insists the punter, who asked not to be named. "Most people in the Hacienda treated her performance as a bit of a joke."

Also on the bill that night were the Factory Allstars - musicians assembled from the bands signed to Factory Records, including the Hacienda's owners, New Order.

Rob Gretton and Peter Hook, respectively New Order's manager and bass player, went to Madonna's dressing room after the television performance and offered her é50 to play again when the cameras had been switched off.

Hardly surprisingly, she refused.

Factory boss Wilson says that the show has her slipped his mind. "I don't recall that much about Madonna's Hacienda appearance," he says. "I remember watching her from the balcony and her dancing on the floor.

"Years later, I think she's a wonderful artist and I love the way she's so rude to people."

Having been fortunate (or unfortunate?) enough to share a dinner table with the star some years after the Hacienda performance, Wilson speaks from bitter experience.

"I eventually plucked up the courage to look across the table to Madonna and ask, 'Are you aware that the first place you appeared outside of New York was our club in Manchester?'

"She gave me an ice-cold stare and said, 'My memory seems to have wiped that.'"

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